myers



Oct. 2, 1923.

D. D. MYERS METHOD AND MACHINE FOR REFRIGERATION Filed June 28 1920 2Sheets-Sheet 1 1 N V EN TOR. J, D012 D. @9119 BY A TTORNFY,

Oct. 2 1923. 1,469,729

D. D. MYERS METHOD AND MACHINE FOR REFRIGERATION Filed June 29 1920 2Sheets-Sheet. 2

INVENTOR. Bar: B fllyers 'ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 2, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DON D. MYERS, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO INDUSTRIAL RESEARCHCORPORATION,

OF TOLEDO, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

METHOD AND MACHINE FOR REFRIGERATION.

Application filed June 28, 1920. Serial No. 392,171.

To all WIN/NE, 1'1 may concern.

Be it known that I. DON I). MYERS. a citizen of the l'nitcd States.residing at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods and Machines forRefrigeration, of which I. declare the following to be a full. clear,and exact description.

This invention relates to a method and means for refrigerating liquids.such as brines; or for cooling gases, such as air.

one object of the inventionis to obtain the advantages possessed by theordinary forms of refrigerating systems without the use of pumps.valves. or circulating pipes required in the ordinary system em .loyingthe compression and expansion gases.

Another object is to maintain the refrigcrating gas hermetically sealedin containers which have no con'ununica-tion with each other. thusavoiding leakage of gas such as frequently occurs in refrigeratingsystems of the prior art. Leakage of this gas may result not only in theloss of the gas, but also in injury to life and property through thepoisonous. obnoxious. or corrosive properties of the gas. In myinvention, the container for the gas is free from any internal mechanismthus making it unnecessary to open the container for any purpose wherebygases could be lost or cause injury.

A further object of the invention is to provide a machine so simple inits operation and free from liability to get out of order that it mayconveniently be used in private homes and establishments where skilledmechanics and repair men are not available.

other objects. and objects relating to details of construction andeconomies of manufacture. will appear as I proceed with the descriptionof that embodiment of the invention, which For the purposes of the presany application, I have .ompanying drawings.

1g. I is a vertical sectional View one embodiment of my invention.

Fig. II is a vertical sectional view along the line II-II of Fig. I.looking in the direction indicated by arrows.

Fig. III is a vertical sectional view of an other modificationincorporating my inventron.

Fig. IV is a vertical sectional view along through 'fixd in the casing.

illustrated in the acchambers 9 to the line I\'IV of Fig. III. lookingin the direction of the arrows.

In Figs. I and II, the casing 1 supports the rotary shaft 2. carryingthe open ended drum 3. fixed thereto. A shaft 4. rigidly supports thewheel 5, upon the inclined portion 6. Radiating outward from theperiphery of the wheel 5 are the arms 7 which cooperate with the arms 8,radiating from the closed end of the drum, to pivotally supportcollapsible chambers 9. which are filled with a fixed mass of ammonia.sulphur dioxid. or other suitable gas. The material of the chambers ischosen in view of its resiliency. and its resistance to the corrosiveaction of the gas used. At the outer end of the drum 3 are providedrectangular slots 10 through which the arms 7 of the wheel 5 project.Upon the shaft 2 is mounted the gear wheel 11. or other suitable powertransmitting means which may be driven by a motor 12. Supported at thetop of the casing is a blower 13 which supplies a current of coolingair. directed by a hood 14 upon each chamber as it passes through theupper part of the casing.

Adjacent to and parallel with drum 3, are supported the rotary drums 15.and 16. havinp ribs 17, projecting outwardly and fitting betweenadiacent chambers 9. as the drum 3 is rotated, thereby forming aneffective sealing means to prevent an appreciable transfer of heat hvgaseous flow in either direction between the upper and lower portions ofthe casing. In the base of the casin 1 is provided a reservoir 18 havingsuita le connections. such as that shown at 19. through which may becirculated the medium to be cooled, such as brine. air, or other fluid20.

The operation of my invention shown in Figs. I and II. is as follows;

The motor 12. on rotating. turns the shaft 2 and the drum 3 therebyrotating the chem: hers 9 about the axis of the shaft 2. The inclinedportion of the shaft 6 causes the be compressed at the' upper portion ofthe casing 1 and expanded at the lower portion of the casing. The slots10 permit the arms to reciprocate back and forth therein during eachrotation, while the drum 3 drives the wheel 5, and maintains the arms 7in line with the arms 8.

In compressing a chamber, as it travels from the bottom toward the topof the casing 1, the temperature of the chamber'is elevated by theadiabatic compression 0! the gas therein, and as the chamber approachesthe uppermost part of the casing, the heat arising from this increase oftemperature is carried oil' by the cooling air directed by the hood 14upon the chamber. As the drum 3 continues to rotate, the chamber passesout of the coolin current of air and the volume of the chem er issinusoidally increased, thereby cousin an adiabatic expansion of the asin the c amber and a consequent dc crease in the temperature of thechamber. As the chamber approaches the lower portion of the casing 1, itimmerses in the brine 20, and the decreased temperature of the chambercauses it to absorb heat from the brine 20, thereby reducing thetemperature of the brine. The chamber is then removed from the brine, asthe drum 3 rotates, and is sinusoidally compressed so that upon reachingthe upper portion of the casin 1, it is again in a heated condition asescribed above in connection with the initial step in the cycle ofoperations. This cycle is followe by a continuous series of similarcycles.

It is thus seen that the chamber is subjccted to a sinusoidal change involume, and at the point of minimum volume in the cycle, the chamber iscooled by the cooling air; while at the point of maximum volume in thecycle, the chamber is heated by the brine, or in other words, reducesthe temperature of the brine. The portion of the cycle, corresponding tothe interval of cooling of a single chamber 9, has a duration of lessthan one half a cycle of the drum; and similarly, the ,ortion of thecycle, corresponding to the interval of refrigerating of the brine 20 bya single chamber 9, is of less duration than one half a cycle of thedrum 3. The point of minimum volume in the cycle occurs in the middle ofthe interval of coding of the chamber 9, while the point ohmammum volumein the cycle occurs in the middle of the interval of cooling of thebrine 20. By providing a plurality of chambers 9, uniformly distributedaround the drum 3, each passing over the same path and through the samecycle of volume change, it is pos sible to continuously withdraw heatfrom the brine, and thereby maintain the brine at a low temperature.

Referring to Fi s. III and IV, a modification is shown in wiich the drum21 is closed at both ends and provided with slots 22 through which thearms 23 of wheels 24 and 25 project to supportchambers 9. Betweenadjacent chambers 9 are provided separatin ribs 26 which perform thefunction provi Pd by the ribs 17 in the modification shown in Fig. II,The nozzles 32', 28 and 29 are so laced with relation to the recesses31'), formed between the ribs 28, as to furnish an eflicient supply ofcooling air to the chainbers while in the compressed condition. Aprons31 and 32 cooperate with the ribs 26 to form a sealing means preventingtranc fer of heat by gaseous flow in either direction between the upperand lower portions of the casing.

The operation of the modification, shown in Figs. III and IV, is similarto that de scribed in connection with Figs 1 and II, the cycle of volumechange of chambers .9 being sinusoidal, and the cooling oi the chambersand of the brine occurring in the same relation as described above. I amaware that the particular embodiment of my invention above described,and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, is susceptible ofconsiderable variation Without departing from the spirit thereof, andtherefore, I desire to claim my invention broadly as well asspecifically as indicated by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. The method of refrigerating, which consists in cyclically varying thevolume of a fixed mass of gas, immersing said gas in a cooling mediumduring the half cycle nearest the minimum volume point in the cycle, andimmersing said gas in a medium to be cooled during the other half cycle,whereby heat from said medium to be cooled is absorbed by the gas duringsaid other half cycle.

2. The method of refrigerating, which consists in sinusoidally varyingthe volume of a fixed mass of gas, immersing said gas in a coolingmedium during the half cycle nearest the minimum volume point in thecycle, and immersing said gas in a medium to be cooled during the otherhalf cycle whereby heat from said medium to be cooled is absorbed by thegas during said other half c cle.

3. The method of refrigerating, which consists in cyclically varying thevolume of a fixed mass of gas immersing said gas in a'cooling mediumduring the half cycle nearest the minimum volume point 'in the cycle fora portion only of said half cycle nearest to said minimum volume point,and immersing said gas in a medium to be cooled during the other halfcycle for a portion only of said half cycle nearest the maximum volumepoint, whereby heat from said 1nc dium to be cooled is absorbed by thegas during said other half c ole.

4. The method of re rigerating, which consists in sinusoidally varyingthe volume of a fixed mass of gas immersing said gas in a cooling mediumduring the half cycle nearest the minimum volume point in the cycle fora portion only of said half cycle nearest to said minimum volume point.and immersing said gas in a medium to be cooled during the other halfcycle for a portion ill? only of said half cycle nearest the maximumvolume point whereby heat from said medium to be cooled is absorbed bythe gas durin said other half cycle.

5. he method of refrigerating, which consists in varying the volume of afixed mass of gas periodically in accordance with a fixed cycle,immersing said gas in a cooling medium during the half cycle nearest theminimum volume point in the cycle, and immersing said gas in a medium tobe cooled during the other half cycle. whereby heat from said medium tobe cooled is ab sorbed by the gas during said other half cycle.

6. The method of refrigerating, which consists in periodically carryingout the following cycle of operations upon a fixed mass of gas in thesequence named: first, adiabatically compressing the gas; second,immersing said gas while compressed in a cooling medium; third,adiabatically expanding said gas: fourth, immersing said while expandedin the medium to be cooled.

7. The method of refrigerating by a series of scaled collapsiblechambers filled with gas, which consists in serially compressing saidchambers, passing them while compressed through a cooling medium,expanding them, and finally passing them while expanded through a mediumto be cooled.

8. The method of refrigerating by an endless series of scaledcollapsible chambers filled with gas, which consists in translating theentire series in seriatim along a fixed path, compressing each chamberas it passes over a first portion of the path; cooling each chamber,while compressed, as it passes over a secondportion of the path;expanding each chamber as it passes over a third por t'ion of the path;and immersing each chamber, While expanded, in the medium to be cooled,as it passes over a fourth portion of the path.

9. The method. of refrigerating by a plurality f scaled gas filledchambers, which consists in periodically repeating a cycle composed ofthe following operations performed in the order named: compressing thechambers progressively while translating them through a thermallyneutral mediam;- thcn translating the chambers progressively, whilecompressed. through a cooling medium to reduce the temperature of thechambers: expanding the chambers progressively while translating themthrough a thermally neutral medium: and translating the chambersprogressively .while ex panded through the medium to be cooled.

10. In a refri erat-ing machine, a rotary carrier. a cham ier containinga constant mass of gas, supported at the periphery of said carrier,means for varying the volume of said chamber as it moves will the catrier, said chamber transferring heat between angularly displaced pointsadjacent the periphery of said carrier.

11. In a refrigerating machine, a casing, a reservoir therein containinga medium to be cooled, and a space in said casing containing a coolingmedium, and rotary means supported in said casing for transferring heatfrom said medium to be cooled to said cooling medium, said meansincluding a plurality of collapsible non-communicating gas filledchambers.

12. In a refrigerating machine, a casing, a reservoir therein containinga medium to be cooled, and, a space in said casing containing a coolingmedium, and rotary means supported in said casing for transferring heatfrom said medium to be cooled to said cooling medium, said meansincluding a plurality of non-commonicatinn gas filled chambers, andshielding means cooperating with said rotary means to prevent flow ofgas between said reservoir and said space.

13. In a refrigerating machine. a cooling medium and a medium to becooled, a plurality of scaled collapsible gas fillethchambers. and meansfor cyclically varying the volume of said chambers and simultaneouslyrotating said members to immerse said chambers in a cooling medium whilesaid chambers are compressed, and to inimerse'said chambcrs in a mediumto be cooled while said chambers are expanded.

14. in a refrigerating machine, an approximately cylindrical casing. acup shaped drum, pivoted on its axis of revolution coaxial with saidcasing, having a plurality of rectangular slots at the rim of the cup,and a plurality of radial projections at the base of the cup, saidprojections having sockets in their ends. a. fixed shaft inclined to,but intersecting the axis of said casing, a wheel pivoted upon saidshaft, having radial projections at its periphery extending through andfree to move in said slots. said projections having srx'kets in theirends and gas filled chambers having terminals at each and journaled insaid sockets, whereby said chambers are supported substantially parallelto the axis of said casing, means for rotating said drum whereby saidchambers are rotated and alternately compressed and expanded, a fluidmedium in. the lower portion of said casing to be cooled bv saidchambers coming in contact therewith, and a fluid medium in the upperportion of said casing for cooling said chambers.

15. In a refrigerating machine. a cylindrical casing. a cup shaped drum.pivoted on its axis of revolution coaxial with said casing. having aplurality of rectangular slots at the rim of the cup, and a plurality ofradial projections at the base of the cup, said projections havingsockets in their ends,

ioo

a fixed shaft inclined to, but intersecting the axis of said casing, awheel pivoted upon said shaft, havin radial projections at its peripherycxten mg through and free to move in said slots, said projections havingsockets in their ends, and gas filled chambers having terminals at eachend journaled in said sockets, whereby said chambers are supportedsubstantially parallel to the axis of said casing, means for rotatingsaid drum whereby said chambers are rotated and alternately com ressedand expanded. a fluid medium in the ower portion of said casing to becooled by said chambers coming incontact therewith, and a fluid mediuminthe upper ortion of said casing for cooling said chem rs, a rotarydrum on each side of the upper portion of said casing parallel to saidcasing and having projecting ribs closely meshing with the chambers onsaid drum for preventing a flow of gas between the upper and lowerportions of said casing.

16. In a refrigerating machine, a rotary drum having a pluralityof-recesses uni' 'formly distributed around its periphery parallel tothe axis of the drum, slots in said recesses, two wheels mounted at aninclination to each other in said drum, having arms extending throughsaid slots, gas filled chambers supported in said recesses upon saidarms, a casing surrounding the lower portion of said drum and pivotallysup porting said drum, a reservoir in the base of said casing forcontaining a medium to be cooled, air cooling means supported above saiddrum, including nozzles directed upon said chambers, means to rotatesaid nwheel whereby said containers are compressed and expanded, saidchambers being cooled by the curnents of air from said. nozzles whilesaid chambers are compressed and heated by said medium to be cooledwhile said chambers are expanded.

17. In a refrigerating machine, a rotary drum having a plurality .ofrecesses uniformly distributed around its periphery parallel to the axisof the drum, slots in said recesses, two wheels mounted at aninclination to each other in said drum, havarms extending through saidslots, gas

fill ed chambers supported in said recesses upon said arms, a casingsurrounding the lower portion of said drum and pivotally supporting saiddrum, a reservoir in the base of said casing for containing a medium tobe cooled, air 'coolin means supported above said drum, inclu ingnozzles directed u in said dhambers, means to rotate said w eels wherebysaid containers are con!- pressed and expanded", said chambers beingcooled by the currents of air from said nozzles whlilasaid dhambers arecompressed, and heated 1b ,saidfl medium to be cooled while saidjca-Inhers are ex ended, and shielding means. at'the top 0 said casing forpreventing ag-flow of gas to or from said reservoir.

In testimon'y wliereof, I affix my signature.

non D. Mrnns.

